


It is a gentle thing

by melonbutterfly



Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-09
Updated: 2009-08-09
Packaged: 2017-10-12 23:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melonbutterfly/pseuds/melonbutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris and Zach keep falling asleep - first on each other, then together, and then it gets even weirder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It is a gentle thing

**Author's Note:**

> For this (http://community.livejournal.com/trek_rpf_kink/1765.html?thread=1960165#t1960165) prompt from the trek_rpf_kink meme.
> 
> The title comes from the quote "Oh sleep! It is a gentle thing, beloved from pole to pole." by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The first time was an accident. They were in Zach's trailer, both tired from a long day of filming and getting up early and having to get up early the next day again, but still not yet ready to go to sleep already. It was Wednesday, and Chris insisted that they had to do something totally not related to the job or they'd go mad. So they watched Torchwood.

Or at least, that's what they had intended to do. Actually they only watched for maybe five minutes, if at all; when Chris woke up he couldn't remember what had happened in the episode, but he didn't think about it much either, because the way he woke up was demanding all his attention.

He was lying on Zach's couch, which hadn't happened before, but wasn't that interesting. No; what was demanding his attention was the fact that he was lying on his back and Zach was lying half on top of him, one arm slung around Chris' chest, one leg across his hips, and that Chris own arm was wrapped around Zach's shoulders. Their heads were leaning towards each other, and they were actually sharing breathing space.

Chris never woke up like that. All his previous partners complained that he was a bed-hog; he supposedly tended to fling his arms and legs all over the bed, no matter if anyone was in the way or not. Cuddling worked with him only when he was awake. And actually, he had always been kind of alright with that; yeah, he was a little sorry that he was so discourteous during sleep, but what was he supposed to do? It was unconscious, not his fault.

So it was more than just unusual to wake up like this; it was literally the first time in all his life that this happened to Chris, and for a moment, he was a little disoriented. Then, when he became fully aware of the situation and position they were in, he tensed, only to relax again when he realised that Zach was asleep.

After that, he started to wonder.

Yeah, he and Zach got on like a house on fire; they had smoothly, seamlessly slipped into the rhythm of best friends without planning to, without even really noticing. Suddenly, Zach was in his life and his best friend, and he didn't question it for a minute.

But this, this was new. It wasn't something best friends did, fall asleep together; at least not male best friends. As far as he knew. Female best friends maybe did that (though Chris was very wary of the things one learned about human interaction out of lesbian porn).

Not that he had a problem with it. He had had a couple of male partners before, even a short relationship; he liked to think that he fell in love with minds, not bodies, and that if he fell in lust, it was with bodies, not genitals.

Still. …er. Chris blinked. What had he been about again? He didn't remember. There was no problem, this wasn't a big deal. Stressful day, tired best friends who fell asleep on the same couch that was tiny enough that they inevitably ended up cuddling.

No problem.

Chris drifted off to sleep again.

+

It happened again, after that, but none of them seemed to mind. Falling asleep on the same couch was acceptable; Chris didn't mind, Zach didn't mind. Sometimes one of them was lying on top of the other, sometimes they lay chest to chest, sometimes they were spooning. It was alright; actually, it was more than alright because Chris was always a little more relaxed after spending the night in Zach's personal space. Not that sleeping alone wasn't relaxing, but sleeping with Zach was somehow even more settling. The difference wasn't big enough to be worrying, but it was noticeable.

They didn't really speak of it, though.

+

After filming, they didn't sleep together anymore. Sometimes they spent the night at the other's, but they both have guest rooms. It wasn't a topic, it wasn't an issue; Chris faintly noticed one day that they didn't do it anymore, but that was it.

Then came the press tour.

+

"Guys, they're doing it again," Anton whispered, gaining the attention of Zoë to his right and Karl to his left. At the beginning the flights had been still fairly entertaining, but by now they were in some kind of routine and everybody more or less did stuff by themselves; reading and sleeping, mostly.

After Anton's words though, Zoë felt a grin slowly spread on her face and quickly dug into her bag for her camera while Karl fondly rolled his eyes. Anton was kneeling on his seat and looking over the back of it to the seats behind them, where Chris and Zach (and Simon) were sitting; for some reason, Anton always took great care to sit somewhere close them because he found it exceptionally cute, this affinity of theirs to fall asleep on each other. Sometimes, Zoë found Anton's reaction almost cuter than Zach and Chris.

She turned around and knelt on her seat as well, camera in her hand, and snapped a couple of pictures; one of them had pushed the armrest up so there was no barrier between them, and Chris was draped all over Zach, one knee between his legs, face in his collarbone, arms around his upper body. Zach had one arm around Chris' waist, hand hooked in the back-pocked of his jeans, the other hand on Chris' arm, head leaning into Chris', mouth in his hair. It was _adorable_. Simon, sitting to Zach's other side, was asleep too, curled up and with two blankets; it was a funny contrast that accentuated that for Chris and Zach, shared body heat obviously was enough.

"I want to know how they do it," Anton whispered; he always made a point of not waking up these two. Zoë could only shrug and snapped a ninja picture of him; he didn't even notice because he was still staring at Zach and Chris.

"At the end of the tour you can make a whole gallery of just these two sleeping," Karl said lowly. He had meant it as a joke, but Anton nodded enthusiastically and turned his puppy-dog-eyes on her. "Please please please?", he whispered. "Everyone will send you their photos anyway, won't they? So you can, right?"

Good-naturedly, Zoë rolled her eyes. Somehow, everyone had declared her the Queen of Photos only because she had demanded everyone bring their cameras and take some; she hadn't even told them to or anything, but it seemed an unspoken agreement that at the end of the tour, everyone would give her their pictures and she'd take the best ones and make an album of them. Not that she really minded, but still.

"Yes, yes, okay, fine, I will," she conceded, and Anton grinned ecstatically.

+

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Zach joked as they untangled themselves, but there was a nervous undertone in his voice.

Chris rubbed his neck, brows furrowed worriedly. "Man, I'm sorry, I don't know how this happened. I went to sleep in my own bed, I swear."

They just woke up together in Zach's bed, and it kind of was a little problem, because they hadn't been on it when they had fallen asleep. Or rather, Chris hadn't been on it when he had fallen asleep; Zach, of course, had. But Chris hadn't even been in the same room; his own room was on the same floor, yes, and as usual they popped into each others hotel rooms; they usually spent most of their time together anyway. They indeed _had_ gluelessly assumed the pattern of best friends, even after filming, and that included assuming personal rights in the others life and space and home, wherever that home currently was, and at the moment it was their respective hotel rooms.

And apparently, it also meant falling asleep on each other. On planes that was acceptable, though sometimes they were woken up by the giggles of members of their cast, but the first two or three times it happened in a hotel, it had been okay as well. It was a tiny step up because until then, they hadn't slept in a bed together, but neither of them really noticed.

Until now. Because this time, they had clearly and pointedly gone to sleep in separate rooms after spending three nights together in a row. Sure, they liked to play up that bromance-thing, flirted notoriously and just generally saw no reason to hide how close they were, but always sleeping together was something couples did, established couples. Not best friends, and not even lesbian porn tried to claim that. But they had closed the previous evening with a couple of jokes that they were finally going to sleep again before Zach had left Chris' room and went to his own bed; this, this was creepy.

"What, you sleepwalk?", Zach asked while sitting up, and it was still meant as a joke but was spoken a little too sharp to be completely taken as one.

Chris frowned. "No, I don't. And even if I did, I would have woken up in front of your door and not in your bed because I don't have a key to your room, do I?"

"Yeah, I know you're not doing this on purpose, I'm sorry. This is just… weird."

"Weird," Chris echoed. "Yeah, weird. But it's no big deal, is it? You're not angry or anything, are you? I swear I have no idea how I got here."

"No, no, it's fine." Zach ran a hand through his hair. "It's not like I mind or anything. But, you know, one might think we can manage to spend one night alone, right?"

"Yeah." Chris frowned, confused and trying to figure out how he had ended up here. Apparently, he had walked across the hall to Zach's room clad in nothing but his boxers and an old, too-big shirt; it was a little scary that he was capable of doing something without being aware of it. He only hoped it was a one-time incident.

That evening they fell asleep on the plane together, no big deal, none of them minded, and when they arrived at their hotel in some new city at three in the morning, they didn't even bother trying to figure out where Zach's room was; they just crashed in Chris' room, too tired to even look straight anymore. They didn't talk about it in the morning, and Chris didn't feel like it was an issue.

The next morning though it almost became one, because they woke up together again. This time it was Zach who had come to Chris in the night, so Chris didn't feel so bad anymore, and because it had happened before Zach didn't, either. Also, Zach wasn't entirely sure but he thought he remembered thinking something like "I've got to tell Chris good-night", which didn't make much sense because they had already done that, but at least there was something. On mutual, unspoken agreement they spent the rest of the nights in that hotel together; they were sneaky about it (one time they got tipsy enough they could claim they were drunk; another they simply did the watch-TV-until-we-fall-asleep thing again, and once Zach claimed he couldn't sleep because his neighbours were either having sex or repetitiously hitting the wall and agreeing with each other loudly), but they did it knowing that they were doing it.

In the next city, though, they took great care to have rooms as far away from as each other as possible without raising suspicion; Zach actually switched rooms with Anton because, or so he claimed, he couldn't really sleep in a room with a window towards East because for some reason he always woke up early then. Anton appeared puzzled, but nobody asked any questions and Zach and Chris were happy because Anton's room that was now Zach's was two floors above Chris'. They believed this would be enough of a distance, and it was about time they spent a night apart again, or so they said.

It turned out that two floors were no barrier for their sleepwalking selves; Zach woke up with his ear above Chris heart and a hand warm and heavy in the small of his back. He was wrapped around Chris side one leg thrown over him as, by now, usual; he didn't even wonder anymore. And waking up with Chris was wonderful, no question; when they were still half-asleep, they both avoided thinking and just gloried the moment. Right now Zach took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of Chris and just enjoying the way his heart beat strong and rhythmical in his ear. As soon as Chris noticed he was awake, he started softly rubbing his thumb up and down; Zach's shirt had rode up a little during sleep and so he was touching his naked skin. Zach knew he should have found something wrong with that—this was his best friend, and they were not only sleeping in the same bed but actually cuddling—but he didn't feel it necessary to try to figure out what. It was nice, that was all that counted.

After a while that they just spent lying in silence, Chris cleared his throat—he was often a little hoarse in the morning, something Zach found both cute and sexy—and said softly, "Maybe we should try different hotels next."

"Hm-m," Zach made noncommittally. He didn’t really mind this, but Chris was right; this had to stop. They shouldn't sleep together so often; even siblings didn't do that, so they as best friends certainly shouldn't, either.

Which is why the next evening, they found themselves playing out a heartbreaking farewell scene; Zach clung to Chris and mock-sobbed into his t-shirt while Chris patted his back, wearing a mock-brave face, and said stuff like "I know, darling, but I _have_ to" and "I don't want to either but it's necessary, sweetie"; when Zach got sick of being the weak-kneed heroine, he switched to screeching hag and threw Chris out for "daring to show his face here again after what he did". Chris was still chuckling twenty minutes later when he called him from his own room in a different hotel to say goodnight.

Zach was woken up the next morning by an exasperated moan. "God, I don't believe this!", came Chris voice directly into his ear, throaty and quiet. Confused, but with dawning realisation Zach opened his eyes and turned his head, looking Chris directly into the eyes; it was very early in the morning, and for some reason they were especially pale in this light. "Morning", he said dryly, half amused, half resigned. "You're naked," he continued. He didn't remove his hand from where it was placed on Chris' naked butt; partly because he didn't want to, partly because he was too tired. Chris body was nestled to his side, one arm over his chest and shoulders, leg as usual thrown over Zach's; Zach had his arm around Chris' waist, hand on his butt, and his other arm was thrown over his head. He couldn't feel it anymore; he had bad circulation and could never feel his arm if he slept with it over his head.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I am," Chris said, embarrassed and nervous at the same time. "Sorry?" There was a slight apprehension in his eyes; he was worried, Zach suddenly realised. Worried how Zach would react.

One-armed, he shrugged. "Not really your fault, is it? Do you remember how you got here?"

Chris licked his lip, nervous. "Well, I had this strange dream where I had something really important to tell you and got up and got dressed and walked over to you. It probably was less of a dream than I thought?"

Zach chuckled. "It appears so."

They were quiet for a while; Chris shifted a little and pulled the blanket higher, Zach let his hand drop onto the mattress, ignoring the faint pang of regret because he really would have liked to keep it there a little while longer, but there was no reasonable excuse to after Chris shifted.

"Can you even feel your arm?", Chris broke the silence after a while, and Zach glanced up.

"No."

"Hm. Come here." Reaching up, Chris grabbed Zach's arm and pulled it down between them; it was cold and he wouldn't be able to move it for a while yet, he knew. "It's creepy," Chris murmured, referring to the difference in temperature; the rest of Zach's body was warm, almost hot from sleep and only his arm was cool. Used to that, Zach didn't reply; he was tired and if Chris let him, he'd get a couple of hours of sleep yet.

"Are you-"

"Shut up," Zach mumbled, interrupting him. As he knew Chris, he'd start a serious conversation now and he really, really didn't feel up to that.

"Hrm," made Chris and Zach let himself drift off to sleep again.

The next time he woke up it was light in the room; Zach didn't like to close the curtains completely because he liked to be able to tell what time of morning it was he woke up without having to get up and check. He and Chris were still entangled in vaguely the same way they had been earlier; Zach's arm was between their chests and Chris had his arms wrapped around it.

As they lay there in quiet, Chris still asleep and his breath ghosting over Zach's collarbone, Zach pondered their situation. They liked to sleep together. None of them really minded, but as best friends, they shouldn't; it wasn't healthy. If any of them got a partner or even juts a love interest, this situation of theirs would pose a real problem. Not that Zach wanted to or could even imagine finding a partner at this time, but that wasn't the point—with Chris, though, he really had everything he wanted. Well, okay, no sex but… but…

Why?

Zach licked his lips and wondered why he never had thought about this before. Sure, he could and did appreciate Chris' body—even a blind man would, honestly, Chris was _hot_ —but somehow, that thought had never led to the possibility that they might become a couple. They had been best friends, and somehow Zach's mind had been confined in that label, unable to consider anything else for them. It was no wonder either; that best friends thing had already happened so quickly, so easily and he hadn't even noticed that until JJ had dropped some offhand, jokey comment that when he had brought them together he had meant them to portray Kirk and Spock as wary partners at best and not to impersonate the old TOS Kirk and Spock I-understand-you-without-words relationship. It had been a real Eureka moment for Zach; all of a sudden, everything had clicked into place and he had thought "Aha! So _that's_ why!" Questions he hadn't even asked himself before had suddenly been answered; it had been liberating, in a way.

And that was why somehow, he had never considered more for them; not even when the interviewers started to inquire after their "Bromance"-status or downright asked if they were dating. They weren't, and while they liked to screw around with the answers to confuse people, Zach for some reason had never really thought about the question.

It was downright embarrassing, now that he thought about it. He who usually played around with words had this time been the one the words played with, and even when they woke up in the same bed again and again he hadn't noticed. But both their subconscious apparently had not only noticed, but also decided to do something about it; that was the only possible answer to the question why it was they always ended up sleeping together. It had been a sign so big and so obvious he hadn't noticed—neither of them had—true to the saying of not seeing the wood for the trees.

But that was over now, Zach decided. As soon as Chris woke up he'd tell him about his revelation; he was sure that Chris would see the logic. _He_ was the one who had ended up naked in Zach's bed after sleepwalking there from several streets away (and that was a scary thought; Chris walking through the night, alone and very vulnerable; it made Zach shudder), after all. Chris' subconscious apparently was a little more forward or determined than Zach's.

"Prml," Chris made, effectively dragging Zach out of his thoughts. "Issit mornin'?"

"Don't talk to me like that, man."

Opening one eye to scowl (as much as he was able to, half asleep) at Zach, Chris pointedly cleared his throat and asked in his most refined upper-class-accent "Am I right when assuming that it is now morning, sir?"

Zach raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, baby. Continue to talk like that and I'll fetch my whip and spank you."

"Huh." Chris mirrored his expression. "Interesting."

"Stop channelling my characters. Anyway, I've thought about something while you were still in lala-land." He would have propped his head on his arm now to start a proper conversation, but Chris was lying on that arm and he was unwilling to take it back.

"Should I be scared now?"

"No. Shut up and be silent." Because the two were different things when dealing with Chris, he had long learned that. "So." Zach licked his lower lip and collected his thoughts, trying to figure out a way to start. "Clearly, this… thing; this sleeping together is not going to stop. Also, best friends clearly don't do stuff like that; sleep together every night, I mean. Sooo… I thought about it. And. Well. We both like this, don't we?" Chris nodded. He was listening carefully, Zach could tell, and it made him a little nervous; he thought he vaguely knew what Chris would think of the idea, but that didn't mean he was right. "And if we were really just best friends, we'd be a little uncomfortable, I think. Once, okay, twice, yeah, but it happened to us so often by now we can't even count anymore. We even end up in one bed when we go to sleep in different rooms, in different hotels; that's not normal. So, I thought. I really like you in my bed. Naked, I mean. We could, you know. Be more than friends. Best friends. Like… more."

Chris licked his lower lip. "You mean like… friends with benefits?"

Zach thought about it. "Uh, yeah, basically, that. Only I think we've long moved past the stage where we could have sex and not feel attached. I mean, we're attached now and we're technically just best friends. Though I do think we're kind of in a relationship already and just didn't notice. So if we added the sex-part and the part where we officially, for us I mean, are a couple, that'd be it. Everything else we've got covered already."

"So." Licking his lip again, but this time leaving the tip of his tongue in the corner of his mouth, Chris moved a little closer. "You mean like boyfriends. And I'd take you to my parents for Christmas and you'd be like, officially part of the family."

He furrowed his brow. "Yeah. But if yours get Christmas, my parents are probably going to want Thanksgiving."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah."

"So…"

"Yeah?"

"You going to kiss me or what?"

"Zach. I'm in your bed, naked. I think we can safely say that I made the first step. It's your turn now."

Okay.


End file.
